Indian nuclear submariners sail on US nuke sub

Three crewmembers from India's indigenously built nuclear submarine INS Arihant sailed for a week onboard the USS Annapolis,

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Sandeep Unnithan

New Delhi

June 10, 2010

UPDATED: June 10, 2010 17:11 IST

The Obama administration may have yet to bridge a trust deficit with the Indian government but cooperation is galloping in the military sphere. In a first of its kind, three crewmembers from India's indigenously built nuclear submarine INS Arihant sailed for a week onboard the USS Annapolis, a Los Angeles class nuclear powered attack submarine, in the Arabian Sea last month.

The attachment, kept under wraps, formed part of the annual Malabar joint Indo-US naval exercises which concluded off Goa in early May. The move is significant. Just as the US is guarded about access to its nuclear submarines, the Indian navy is wary about granting access to its pioneering nuclear submariners or even a glimpse of its first indigenously built nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, the Arihant.

Photography was banned at the Arihant's July 26 launch last year and the first official photograph of the nuclear submarine was released by the government only last week. (The first photograph of the Arihant was carried by India Today last year). The Arihant crew were given complete access to all areas of the Annapolis and had a hands-on experience of life on board a US nuclear powered submarine at sea. India's homemade SSBN is meanwhile undergoing harbour trials in Visakhapatnam and is expected to begin full-fledged sea trials only next year and is slated to be commissioned in 2012.

The Indian navy's first nuclear submarine, the INS Chakra, an Akula-2 nuclear powered attack submarine is to be commissioned later this year in Vladivostok. The Chakra is to join the navy on a ten-year lease and is to be used to train crews for the Arihant class submarines.

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